The recent Facebook threat at Ruidoso High School was the first test of the school district’s “potential active shooter protocol,” and police and school administrators told the school board Thursday that everyone involved had passed.

No guns were found, and the two students who made the threat told police they were just kidding around and never intended any harm.

But the law enforcement rapid response involved at least eight officers from Ruidoso and Lincoln County departments, who had to coordinate the rapid search and detention operation with worried school officials.

“It went off pretty well,” said Det. Ray Merritt as he reviewed the incident for the board.

Ruidoso schools Supt. George Bickert noted it was the first situation of its kind that had arisen since school personnel had received Ruidoso Police Department training on how to handle such crises. He asked Merritt if there were any “lessons learned.”

“Not that we identified in this incident,” Merritt replied. “The thing went off very smoothly.”

“These situations can change very quickly,” he added, “and it’s important to have a plan that’s dynamic enough that we can roll with it.”

Bickert noted that safety training for RMSD faculty and staff was ongoing.

He also reported that both students who posted the Facebook statements, in which they agreed they should “shoot up a school,” had faced administrative hearings. He said the district decision on how the two boys should be disciplined was confidential under district policy.

The boys and their families have 10 days in which to appeal the decision. Meanwhile they are still not allowed to attend classes at the high school.

Bickert said a separate disciplinary hearing was held for a third student. She is a Ruidoso Middle School girl who was among students searched by police and sheriff’s deputies because they were riding on the same bus with one of the two RHS boys on their way to school the morning officials became aware of the Facebook exchange.

When the girl was searched, officers found a knife, not related to the Facebook threat but still a violation of school policies on weapons. The knife was confiscated and turned over to RHS administrators.

Board president Greg Cory said he thought it was important for the public to know when police took charge of the search operation at Ruidoso High School.

Bickert said RHS Principal Cody Patterson became aware of the Facebook statements at 7:50 a.m. on Oct. 13 and called police immediately. It took them only minutes to respond, and Merritt said he took command “as soon as I arrived.”

Cory said he wanted everyone to understand that “the incident was handled by people who were trained to handle it.”

Merritt said he had heard questions afterward about why the school wasn’t evacuated. “It was at no time necessary to evacuate the school,” he said. “The threat was contained outside.”

Bickert said one lesson he had learned was that the note to parents about the incident sent home with all RHS students that afternoon should have been followed the same evening with automated phone calls using the school district’s phone tree system.

He said that long after the episode was over, parents were still posting on social media that weapons had been found and that the two boys had been allowed to attend class immediately. Neither rumor was true.

“Our people spent more time dealing with misinformation than they spent dealing with the incident itself,” he said.